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Mata-Utu

(Encyclopedia)Mata-Utu, town (2003 pop. 1,191), capital of the French overseas territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands. Located on the E coast of Uvea island, it is a port and the chief city of the territory. Po...

scutage

(Encyclopedia)scutage skyo͞oˈtĭj [key], feudal payment, usually in cash, given in lieu of actual military service due from a vassal to an overlord. It applied especially to the vassals of the king. Scutage colle...

Louis Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Louis Philippe lwē fēlēpˈ [key], 1773–1850, king of the French (1830–48), known before his accession as Louis Philippe, duc d'Orléans. The son of Philippe Égalité (see Orléans, Louis Phili...

Spanish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the ...

Peninsular War

(Encyclopedia)Peninsular War, 1808–14, fought by France against Great Britain, Portugal, Spanish regulars, and Spanish guerrillas in the Iberian Peninsula. The Peninsular War immeasurably raised Britain's mi...

Chabannes, Antoine de, comte de Dammartin

(Encyclopedia)Chabannes, Antoine de, comte de Dammartin äNtwänˈ də shäbänˈ kôNt də dämmärtăNˈ [key], 1408?–1488, French soldier in the Hundred Years War. He served with Joan of Arc, distinguishing hi...

Martignac, Jean Baptiste Sylvère Gay, vicomte de

(Encyclopedia)Martignac, Jean Baptiste Sylvère Gay, vicomte de zhäN bätēstˈ sēlvĕrˈ gā vēkôNtˈ də märtēnyäkˈ [key], 1778–1832, French statesman. He was elected (1821) to the chamber of deputies a...

Lauzun, Antonin Nompar de Caumont, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Lauzun, Antonin Nompar de Caumont, duc de äNtōnăNˈ nôNpärˈ də kōmôNˈ dük də lōzöNˈ [key], 1633–1723, French courtier and soldier. Mlle de Montpensier sought him in marriage; the king...

Escoffier, Georges Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Escoffier, Georges Auguste zhôrzh ôgüstˈ ĕskôfyāˈ [key], 1846–1935, French authority on cooking. Regarded by some as the greatest chef in history, he went to work at the age of 13 in his unc...

Henry VII, Holy Roman emperor and German king

(Encyclopedia)Henry VII, c.1275–1313, Holy Roman emperor (1312–13) and German king (1308–13). A minor count of the house of Luxembourg, Henry was elected German king on the death of King Albert I after the el...